Chlotrudis Awards; "Blindness" comes to light

The 13th annual Chlotrudis Awards(named, as I’m sure you remember,
after the two cats Chloe and Trudy)
occurred over a week ago at the Brattle Theatre, so I apologize for keeping
those who’ve been anxiously waiting for the results to find out how they did on their office pools.
(Hint: Eddie Murphy still got snubbed).

Here are the winners:

BEST MOVIE

Cache

BEST DIRECTOR

Michael Haneke - Cache

BEST ACTOR

Vincent Lindon - La Moustache

BEST ACTRESS

Robin Wright Penn - Sorry, Haters

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Jackie Earle Haley -Little Children

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Carmen Maura - Volver

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE CAST

Little Miss Sunshine

BEST VISUAL DESIGN

The Science of Sleep

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Proposition

BEST DOCUMENTARY

This Film is Not Yet Rated

BURIED TREASURE (tie)

Iron
Island

The Night of Truth

Buried treasure? These are all buried treasures. The combined box
office for all of the them put togetherwouldn’t add up to last weekend’s share for
just one Mutant Ninja Turtle (though I’m sure these trophies will turn that
around). In a sense, “Cache,” i.e, “Hidden,” is an appropriate way to describe
the winners and nominees as a whole.

The same holds for the winner of their Lifetime Achievement Award, Don
McKellar. Huh? That’s what happens when you’re Canadian, nobody knows who you
are. McKellar is a fine actor ("Exotica"), a sometimes brilliant screenwriter (“Thirty-two
Short Films About Glenn Gould”) and an ambitious yet unfulfilled director (“Last
Night”).

That may change with his next project. Back in 1999 I interviewed
him for “Last Night” and he said he was working on an adaptation of
“Blindness,” a book by José Saramago. Who? I asked. You know, he said, the
winner of the Nobel Prize last year. If it was an Oscar, I assured him, I would
have known. He recommended I read the book, and I did, finding it an austere,
chilling allegory about a plague of
blindness and how the victims cope. Good luck getting it made, I thought, even
with the Nobel Prize.

Years passed. The other day I noticedan article in "The Hollywood
Reporter" stating that McKellar's adaptation of "Blindness" will soon be made. Fernando Meirelles (“The Constant
Gardener”)will direct a cast that includes new 007 Daniel Craig, Julianne
Moore and, of course, McKellar.